Hi, this is David writing about Badlands. Badlands is full of great sights and cool rock formations. We hiked the hardest trail which had a ladder going up its face. Personally my favorite part of this park was all the formations. We got to climb them and test our strengths. It was like rock climbing but without the handles sticking out of the wall. There was also all these cool caves to hide in. The only tricky part of hiking was the formations are made up of loose rocks and dirt so you could fall easy (Mom and Nicole). After we left we saw tons of prairie dogs and they were so cute. They chirped and poked there heads out of holes. The journey was definitely a fun one.
And this is Glenn. The ride from Huron, SD to Badlands was almost due west and it was about 4 hours. It was interesting to see the climate and the land change from the wetter and flat Midwest to the drier and more hilly land of western SD. Corn and soybeans gave way to sunflower, corn, hay and sorghum. I guess I did not realize that sunflower was a big crop. Ever see a huge field of sunflowers in bloom? It is quite a sight.
The Badlands is a step up between the lower prairie near the White river and the upper prairie along I-90. There is a several hundred foot change in elevation and it occurs all at once. The face of the dropoff has been eroding for who knows how long and it keeps eroding down into the White river valley. The result is that the line formed by the Badlands dropoff keeps moving northward. The formations are spectacular, but very harsh to navigate. I can't imagine running into those in your covered wagon. Bummer!
The kids had a ball climbing and hiking here. I'd like to spend more time hiking than we had available to us. Maybe next time.
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